~ snails in art

(35) Évreux

In the Palissy database of the French Ministry of Culture I found a curious snail sculptured on a tomb in the Saint Taurin church in Évreux (Dept. Haute Normandie, France). It is dated from the 13th century. [1]

The snail is seen from the dorso-lateral side, the dextral shell with growth striae visualised as riblets. The head is human, but the face is damaged. Given the size and general appearance of the snail, it may have been inspired on Helix pomatia (Linnaeus, 1758) if one assumes the sculpture was made within the region.
The disproportionally enlargement of snails, like in this case (but cf. the picture in the heading of this site), has already been noted by Pinon [2] and has been associated with warfare.